population notes

                                                           POPULATION*

1. Census.

A census is an official counting of population done periodically.

In India the first census was held in the year 1872. The first complete census, however was taken in the year 1881. Since then censuses have been held regularly every tenth year.

2. POPULATION SIZE AND DISTRIBUTION.

India’s Population Size and Distribution by Numbers

India’s population as on March 2001 stood at 1,028 million, which account for 16.7 per cent of the world’s population.

People are unevenly distributed over our country’s vast area of 3.28 million square km, which accounts for 2.4 per cent of the world’s area.

Uttar Pradesh with a population size of 166 million (16%) people is the most populous state of India.

Sikkim has a population of just about 0.5 million and Lakshadweep has only 60 thousand people.

Population density of India in the year 2001 was 324 persons per sq km.

904 persons per sq km in West Bengal to only 13 persons per sq km in Arunachal Pradesh.

Population densities below 250 persons per square km. Rugged terrain and unfavorable climatic conditions are primarily responsible for sparse population in these areas.

Assam and most of the Peninsular states have moderate population densities.

Hilly, dissected and rocky nature of the terrain, moderate to low rainfall, shallow and less fertile soils have influenced population densities in these areas.

The Northern Plains and Kerala in the south have high to very high population densities because of the flat plains with fertile soils and abundant rainfall.

POPULATION GROWTH AND PROCESSES OF POPULATION CHANGE

Population Growth

Growth of population refers to the change in the number of inhabitants of a country/territory during a specific period of time.

Annual growth rate- an increase of persons for every 100 persons in the base population is referred to as the annual growth rate.

Processes of Population Change/Growth

There are three main processes of change of population : birth rates, death rates and migration.

Birth rate is the number of live births per thousand persons in a year.

Death rate is the number of deaths per thousand persons in a year.

Migration is the movement of people across regions and territories.

Migration can be internal (within the country) or international (between the countries).

In India, the rural-urban migration has resulted increase urban population from 17.29 per cent of the total population in 1951 to 27.78 per cent in 2001. There has been a significant increase in the number of ‘million plus cities’ from 23 to 35 in just one decade i.e. 1991 to 2001.

Age Composition.

The age composition of a population refers to the number of people in different age groups in a country.

The population of a nation is generally grouped into three broad categories:

Children (generally below 15 years)- (34.4%) economically unproductive and need to be provided with food, clothing, education and medical care.

Working Age (15-59 years) (58.7%) They are economically productive and biologically reproductive.

Aged (Above 59 years) (6.9%) They can be economically productive though they may have retired.

Sex ratio is defined as the number of females per 1000 males in the population.

Sex raito in 2001 was  933. Kerala has a sex ratio of 1058 females per 1000 males, Pondicherry has 1001 females for every 1000 males, while Delhi has only 821 females per 1000 males and Haryana has just 861.

Literacy Rates According to the Census of 2001, a person aged 7 years and above who can read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate.

The literacy rate in the country as per the Census of 2001 is 64.84 per cent; 75.26 per cent for males and 53.67 per cent for females.

The current literacy rate of India is 74.04%. Kerala is the most literate state in India, with 93.91% literacy, followed by Lakshadweep at 92.28%. Bihar is the least literate state in India, with a literacy of 63.82%.

Occupational Structure.

Occupations are generally classified as primary, secondary, and tertiary.

Primary-(64%) activities include agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying etc.

Secondary (13%) activities include manufacturing industry, building and construction work etc.

Tertiary (20%) activities include transport, communications, commerce, administration and other services.

Health

Death rates have declined from 25 per 1000 population in 1951 to 8.1 per 1000 in 2001 and life expectancy at birth has increased from 36.7 years in 1951 to 64.6 years in 2001.

Problems- The per capita calorie consumption is much below the recommended levels and malnutrition afflicts a large percentage of our population.

 Safe drinking water and basic sanitation amenities are available to only one third of the rural population.

Adolescent Population

Adolescents are generally grouped in the age-group of 10 to 19 years.

Nutrition requirements of adolescents are higher than those of a normal child or adult. Poor nutrition can lead to deficiency and stunted growth.

A large number of adolescent girls suffer from anaemia.

National Population Policy

 The NPP 2000 provides a policy framework for imparting free and compulsory school education up to 14 years of age, reducing infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1000 live births, achieving universal immunization of children against all vaccine preventable diseases, promoting delayed marriage for girls, and making family welfare a people-centered programme.

NPP 2000 and Adolescents

Besides nutritional requirements, the policy put greater emphasis on other important needs of adolescents including protection from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STD).

It called for programmes that aim towards encouraging delayed marriage and child-bearing, education of adolescents about the risks of unprotected sex, making contraceptive services accessible and affordable, providing food supplements, nutritional services, strengthening legal measures to prevent child marriage.